Delicious Dried Fish Blocks of the World

Mojama is an Andalusian delicacy consisting of salt-pressed, cured, sun-dried tuna loins. It is sliced thin and served with olive oil and almonds. Exclaims kare_raisu, “How sexy is that!” Or, perhaps, it might be served over fingerling potatoes with a duck egg on top, the way MMRuth orders it from Casa Mono in Manhattan.

Compare this to katsuobushi, the rock-hard Japanese block of dried tuna (bonito) loin. These blocks get shaved into flakes to make dashi, the basic Japanese sea broth. The shavings are a general-purpose condiment but generally are not served as the focus of the dish, as with mojama.

Japanese-Spanish fusion cooks everywhere—please make note of the parallel!